The history of this show is quite interesting, and we tell you about it:
After the first evening of a not very definite success of LA BOHEME, on February 1, 1896, this opera conquered with astonishing rapidity the ear and the heart of half of Europe and other parts of the world. Puccini’s worldwide success that began in 1893 with Manon Lescaut had a brilliant take-off.
On November 24, 1887, TOSCA had its premiere in Paris: A new drama by Victorien SARDOU, one of the most famous French playwrights of that time with brilliant theatrical instincts. Sardo wrote this role to be played by France’s greatest dramatic actress, Sarah BERNHARD. Puccini saw the drama in 1889, in Milan, and despite his poor command of the French language, he was fascinated. The great actress with her gestures and the diversity of her features fully expresses the intrigue of the work and is able to captivate only through the visible dramatism and thanks to her great mastery even when not a single word is understood.
He leaves the theater seduced and hurries to telegraph his publisher RICORDI: “I intend to set Tosca to music. I beg you to take the necessary steps at once to obtain SARDOU’s authorization…” But SARDOU does not want to hear about turning his drama into an opera and rejects the proposal. TOSCA is forgotten.
Some years later another Italian composer -Alberto FRANCHETTI- gets SARDOU’s permission and begins to write the music for TOSCA. PUCCINI’s interest in the spectacular story of the Roman singer of the Napoleonic era is reborn. PUCCINI’s renown far outweighs that of his opponent and without much difficulty he recovers the libretto. The long work of rewriting the text begins. PUCCINI relies on the collaboration of the librettist Luigi ILLICA and the prominent poet Guiseppe GIACOSA.
The author is allowed to believe that his word carries weight. RICORDI is a mediator. PUCCINI intervenes constantly demanding changes, cuts, additions. He meets several times with SARDOU to obtain important modifications: “Prodigious man. He is almost 70 years old and is more full of vigor and agility than a young man. He is an indefatigable talker with whom a conversation quickly turns into a monologue… He ended up giving in to everything I asked of him…” SARDOU is enthusiastic about the way ILLICA and GIACOSA carry out the adaptation of his TOSCA. The combination of the names SARDOU and PUCCINI promises a worldwide triumph.
The draft of the libretto of TOSCA is completed at the end of 1896, but only in 1898, on his return to Italy, PUCCINI devotes all his energies to the composition of the new opera and on August 18 he completes the first act. On July 16, 1899 PUCCINI finishes the second act and on September 29 the third, thus concluding the opera TOSCA.
On October 14, 1900, the premiere of TOSCA is held at the Teatro Constanzi in ROME. It is rumored that an artifact will explode during the performance. The political situation makes this possibility credible. The alarm causes the theater to be evacuated. Finally everything is restored and the play is performed. It is a great success; it will be the same all over the world.
“Tosca” is a tragic opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini that tells the gripping story of singer Floria Tosca, her lover Mario Cavaradossi, and the evil police chief, Baron Scarpia. Set in Rome during the Napoleonic Wars, the plot unfolds as Tosca is caught in a web of political and personal intrigue, facing difficult decisions as she tries to protect her beloved Mario and save him from Scarpia’s clutches. The opera is an intense mix of love, betrayal, and sacrifice, with a dramatic denouement that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.
